


reaching

by spacebubble



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Odo's gooey insides, Pre-Slash, the mildest of body horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-09-20 18:44:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,239
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9506909
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacebubble/pseuds/spacebubble
Summary: just a goofy little one-shot. Quark sticks his hand inside Odo, but not in that way.





	

**Author's Note:**

> idk where this would fit in the ds9 timeline, but it's probably something like "way early"?

Quark strolls down the Promenade, lost in thought as he concentrates on reading the padd in his hands. He neatly sidesteps around the other pedestrians walking towards him, Ferengi ears swiftly alerting him to the presence of others before they’re even aware of him themselves. His eyes may be preoccupied, but his ears were always open.

It’s easy for him to notice the familiar gentle rustle of goo noises precipitating Odo’s arrival, and he doesn’t alter his pace one bit.

“Constable,” Quark acknowledges genially, continuing his mental calculations as he hears the Changeling fall into step next to him.

“What’s this, Quark? Yet another itinerary of underhanded deals, perhaps?”

“It’s a completely above-board listing of shipping schedules and nothing more. Now go find some other innocent civilian to harass, I’m busy.”

Odo grunts in annoyance, and Quark permits himself a small smile.

He waits for the goo noises to diminish in volume and signal Odo’s departure.

Instead, they continue to bobble along next to him, and he glances off to the side, looking right into Odo’s stern gaze.

“What?” Quark asks with the blitheness of a Ferengi completely in the right. “Disappointed, Odo?”

“You’re up to something.”

“I’m always up to something, what of it?” Quark grins at the cranky Changeling, then glances back at the padd.

He smoothly walks around a couple of officers and giggles to himself when he hears Odo hastily apologize for bumping into them.

“You know,” Quark comments nonchalantly, “as a Changeling, you could probably add an eye or two to the side of your head and see where you’re going, if you must insist on looking at me -”

Odo harrumphs. “I don’t _insist_ on looking at you, Quark.”

“Yeah, sure you don’t.”

“What’s on that padd?”

“I _told_ you, they’re shipping schedules.”

“Then let me see.”

“Why?” Quark asks with a little irritation, surprised that Odo is still by his side. “It’s not like you can’t get the listing yourself, anyone can download it. Leave me alone.”

Like a flash of beige lightning, Odo snatches the padd out of Quark’s hands.

“Odo!” Quark complains, his voice escalating into an obnoxious screech. “That’s _mine_ , give it _back_!”

He watches in horror as Odo smirks and shoves the padd inside of his freakish Changeling chest with a loud, visceral, gooey squelch.

“If you want it,” Odo says mildly, “Just reach in and grab it. Or you can go download the schedules again on another padd, since anyone can do so. Unless there’s something unique about this particular padd?”

Quark stares at him, speechless for a moment.

He looks at Odo’s chest, which the Changeling has conveniently made partially translucent, so he can see the padd floating around Odo’s amber insides.

He looks back up at Odo’s face, at the smug smile meant to indicate victory.

And that smile is more infuriating than anything.

So Quark plunges his hand inside Odo’s chest, just to wipe that smile off the Changeling’s face.

As soon as he does, his own face falls, and so does Odo’s.

They stare at each other, shocked at the feeling.

Quark thought it would be wet and disgusting. He’s used to wet and disgusting. Instead, it just feels...

Nice.

Comfortable, even.

Like he’s dipped his hand into something healing, something that caresses and soothes every atom of his calloused skin.

Quark’s eyes drift downwards and he watches his fingers close in on the padd. He’s mesmerized by the sight. Liquid latinum couldn’t possibly feel better than this.

He could keep his hand in there forever.

In Odo’s chest.

Quark realizes his hand is still in the middle of Odo’s chest and he begins blushing furiously.

He glances back up at Odo’s face and feels his own face grow hot with embarrassment at how much he’s enjoying being this close to the Changeling. Inside the Changeling. He’s inside Odo and it feels amazing and -

He thinks he’s going to faint.

Quark wrenches his hand back out just as Odo shoves him away, and he falls gracelessly on his ass in the middle of the Promenade.

Thankfully, no one laughs. He catches a few astonished whispers and supposes everyone’s too busy trying to avert their eyes from the sorry sight before them.

The hand holding the padd is strangely dry.

Quark barely registers Odo’s perplexed expression as the Changeling looms over him. Odo’s chest isn’t translucent anymore. It’s blissfully, normally, gratifyingly opaque.

Odo crouches down.

“I didn’t think you would actually listen to me,” Odo tells him. He smiles a little at the dazed Ferengi before his face settles back into its customary scowl. “Don’t try that again.”

Quark’s heart races. “Believe me, I won’t.”

And then Odo takes Quark’s hand and his heart feels like it’s going to race all the way out of his chest.

“Wait!” Quark yelps, cheeks growing hot at the Changeling’s touch. “Odo -”

He shuts up when the Changeling simply pulls him to his feet and lets go of his hand immediately afterwards.

“What?” Odo asks.

“Nothing.” Quark glances back down at his outfit and smoothes out the wrinkles. For a second, he thought things between them might change forever. If they hadn’t, already. “Um. Let’s never speak of this again.”

“Hmph. Fine by me,” Odo says.

He chuckles and Quark looks up at the sound.

“What?” Quark asks.

“You weren’t lying, for once. About the schedules on your padd.”

“Yeah, I know I wasn’t.” Quark knits his browridges. He didn’t see Odo look at the padd at any point. “How did you know?”

“I read it while it was inside of me.”

Quark makes a face. “Gross. Thanks for that mental image.”

“It wasn’t a mental image, Quark. You saw me with the padd. I don’t necessarily need eyes to see.”

The realization makes Quark shudder. “I didn’t know you were _reading_ it when I was looking at you!”

Odo smiles. “You were the one who suggested I could use an extra eye or two.”

“Ugh.” Quark closes his eyes briefly. When he opens them back up again, Odo’s looking at him with that little smile, and it’s not smug.

It looks almost like fondness.

“Anyway,” Odo says, before Quark can mull things over for too long. “I suppose I’ll continue on my way.”

Something about the Changeling’s tone makes Quark narrow his eyes. He suspects Odo might have gotten some inkling of his intended destination. There were only so many cargo bays expecting shipments in the next few minutes.

“Where are you headed?” he asks nonchalantly.

“Nowhere that concerns you, Quark.”

“Uh-huh, right.” Quark folds his arms, padd still in hand. He thinks of all the secret passages in the station and wonders which might be the fastest alternate route to take. “And I suppose it would just happen to be a coincidence if we ended up at the same location, wouldn’t it?”

“Mere coincidence.” Odo tilts his head. “Why, is there something you want to tell me?”

“No. Unless there’s something _you_ want to tell _me?_ ”

“Not at all.”

They look at each other in silence for a moment, and Quark can’t help but smile a little at the familiar return to their game.

“Well,” Quark says casually, already done calculating how long it’ll take him to take the shortcut to Cargo Bay Three. “I’ll see you around, then.”

Odo grunts. His smile shifts back into a smirk, and it puts Quark at ease.

“See you, Quark.”


End file.
